From Noun to Name: On Definiteness Marking in Modern Martinikè

10.1163/9789004261440_011

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Chapter Summary

This chapter discusses two functional morphemes written l(a)- and lé and pronounced [l(a)] and [le] which have developed in Modern Martinikè as definiteness markers of a sort, alongside the better known enclitic definite determiner. It summarises Löbner's distinction between semantic and pragmatic definiteness. The chapter argues that the phrasal enclitic determiner must be semantically characterised as a pragmatic definiteness marker, in Löbner's sense. It presents the morphological, distributional and semantic properties of l(a)-N and lé+NP. The chapter recapitulates and argues that l(a)-N and lé+NP in Martinikè instantiate a class of determiner phrases (DPs) characterised semantically as a subtype of semantic definites denoting individual concepts, and syntactically, by the occurrence of a special functional projection distinct from noun phrase (NP). It concludes that the properties brought out for la-N and lé+NP in Martinikè lead us to identify l(a)- and lé as markers of semantic definiteness, in Löbner's sense.